Stalker
Stalker is the nineteenth episode in season two of . Synopsis A young woman is found bloodily murdered in her heavily secured apartment, clearly terrified of someone who was stalking her. The position of her body seems familiar to Nick, and as he and the others piece together the solution, Nick finds himself the stalker's next target. Plot The episode opens with a young woman receiving a phone call at night in her home. The woman does not answer, and instead lets the answering machine recieve it. A man on the other end says he'll call later. The woman is trembling in fear, clearly scared of something. Another call comes in and again the answering machine takes it. A different man is on the other end, saying derogatory remarks and that "You can't hide from me..." in a threatening tone. The man leaving the message then asks if she's there, calling her by her name, Jane. Jane moves her hand up to her mouth and starts biting her nails out of anxiety, only for the man to reprimand her for doing so. Realizing this means the man is in the house with her, Jane panics and rips the phone cord out of the wall and tries to get out of her house, but the windows are bolted shut. She flees to the closet and closes the doors, trying to hide. Her dog scratches at the closet door, prompting her to try to shoo him away. When the dog doesn't move she pulls him into her arms and scoots her and the dog back into the closet, only for a pair of arms to burst out from behind her and grab her, causing to scream and struggle. The scene changes to the same woman, dead and propped up onto a toilet. Grissom and Catherine are photographing the crime scene, and Grissom remarks that she seems to have been posed in the position she's in, to which Catherine agrees. Grissom then brings up the red substance smeared around the bathroom, and Catherine says that it can't be blood due to being the wrong color and texture. She swabs and examines it, confirming it as hair dye. Catherine asks who called in the scene, and Grissom answers that a neighbor heard the dog yelping. Grissom and Catherine note that there are no signs of forced entry and that the windows are bolted, and wonder about the whereabouts of the dog. They also note the multiple locks and alarm system, and wonder how the assailant could've entered or exited since the door was only forced open when the police arrived. Nick has now joined Catherine and Grissom, who is staring at the dead woman, seeming unsettled by her appearance. Grissom breaks Nick from his fixation, and mentions he had been staring at her for ten minutes straight and asks if he knows her. Nick answers no and Grissom sends him to help Catherine. WIth Nick joining her, Catherine collects what seems to be a hair fiber off the bed, and then teases Nick about being a "Crime Stopper". Nick mentions in his response to her joking suggestion of wearing a new shirt now that he has notoriety that the dry cleaner's keeps losing his clothes. We then move to the Crime Lab with Nick, who is teased further by Warrick and Sara, who mention some personal details that are in the department newsletter to which they have been referring. When Nick asks who showed it to them, they respond that Greg did. Nick gives Warrick the hair fiber to work on, and Sara Jane Galloway's phone records. Doc Robbins is examining Jane's body, revealing that she in fact did have her hair dyed red and that she died of a lack of oxygen, most likely from suffocation. Grissom and Catherine, who are observing, are confused by the lack of robbery or sexual assualt signs at the crime scene or Jane's body, wondering what motivation her killer may have had. Warrick goes to Greg and asks about the "hair" that was found, and Greg answers that it is not actual hair. Warrick then mentions Nick now knows Greg showed them the "Crime Stopper" newsletter, and that he likely is not happy with him over it. Greg then goes to Nick while he tests a plastic bag found at the murder scene, talking to him about the newsletter article. Nick mentions that the article was something instigated by someone in the community, and clears things up with Greg. Greg then gets interested in the bag being tested, and asks if the victim died of suffocation. This causes Nick to realize the bag is the murder weapon. Jim Brass, Grissom, and Sara talk in the hallway about Jane's phone call records. Jim mentions that Jane had a boyfriend and that she had a restraining order against him. Sara says that the boyfriend called Jane 13 times the night of the murder, which Jim notes is forbidden by the restraining order. Warrick then catches Grissom and shows him the fiber found on Jane's bed, and the two realize it is a synthetic fiber. Sara and Brass go out to the boyfriend's home, but find it empty. Sara then spots his car across the street, and they find a man inside, covered in blood and unmoving. Approaching cautiously, Jim then tries taking the man's pulse, only for him to jerk awake, startling them both. Jim pulls the man out of his car and Sara asks if he's alright. The man responds that he's fine, and answers that he's Jane's boyfriend when Jim asks. The two then take him into the station and question him. He says he has no memory of how he got covered in blood, and says that Jane and he had broken up a few months prior after she had started acting strange. Namely, she had stopped taking phone calls and kept missing work. When they question him about the multiple calls the previous evening, he responds he had been intoxicated that night. Catherine comes in and explains that the blood on his shirt came from an unrelated altercation, prompting Jim to send the boyfriend out. Nick meanwhile heads home, checking his email and seeing a photo of his one-time prom date, lying on top of a toilet in the exact same position as the victim. He discusses it with Warrick, saying that something feels suspicious about the whole thing, but he doesn't know what exactly. He suggests that maybe someone got into his email at work, but Warrick is skeptical. When he tells Nick to change his password, Nick responds that he already did. Jim and Grissom are back in the station, Jim wanting to Grissom to talk to a man who claims to have had a "vision" of the crime scene. As he had accurate details that were not in the press release, they brought him in for questioning. The man is an apparent psychic named Morris Pearson, and his visions do match pertinent details of the crime and its aftermath. Sara and Catherine discuss Jane Galloway, and find out that she had in fact had a sudden change in her lifestyle, buying locks, adding an alarm system, quitting her job, screening her phone, and cancelling almost all of her credit cards. All these actions lead them to the conclusion that she was being stalked by someone. Sara also reveals a particularly unsettling detail, the unknown phone calls were coming from the victim's own house number. Jim Brass reveals to Grissom that after checking Pearson's credit card, he found out that the man had been in the Monacco hotel, the very hotel Jane Galloway had been staying in recently, and had even been staying in the room right next to hers. Grissom and Brass take Pearson to the hotel, and question him on his connections to Jane, as he had apparently tried to contact her the evening she had stayed. Pearson explains he had sensed a "negative energy" from her room, and had been trying to explain that too her. He had then tried to follow her when she left, hoping to assuage her fears that he had sensed. When Pearson says that they don't believe him, Grissom responds that he's a scientist. Pearson responds in turn that he is a clairboyant, and that he and Grissom see things in different ways, but that he feels his way is no less valid. Grissom and he then talk about his visions, and Pearson reveals more visions he had about Jane, which lead them to visit Jane's home. Grissom then asks Pearson if the locks on Jane Galloway's door are the ones described by Pearson in one of his visions. He affirms it, but says that the angle he saw them at was higher up, as if he were seeing them from above. Pearson also says that his other visions of Jane's house were also from above. This leads Grissom to check the attic, finding the doorway in the bedroom closet. Inspecting the room, he finds disturbed insulation, labeled peepholes in the attic floor that show each and every room below, and a rigged phone that leads into Jane's second line, indicating the stalker had been hiding out in the attic. Grissom suspects that the stalker wasn't interested in Jane for sex or any other typical motivation, instead being more interested in the control he had over Jane's life by living in her attic and terrorizing her, and the entertainment of observing her so closely without her knowledge. Catherine finds assorted equipment the stalker used, like a camera, night vision goggles, and a digital recorder. Grissom and Catherine then discuss how he got in, and Grissom suspects that he somehow gained voluntary access to Jane's home at some point, then rigged the attic window to open afterwards so that he could get in and out, as it normally could only open from the inside. Catherine and Grissom then wonder who it could've been that she had let in, and have the rest of the team question various personnel. Warrick and Nick check out a Luna Cable employee named Nigel Crane, as he had been one of the personnel that had visited Jane's apartment recently. As they walk up Nick remarks about Luna Cable, and that he had it installed himself, to his enjoyment. They find no one home, and Nick goes into the kitchen while Warrick talks on the phone outside. Nick looks in a cupboard and finds a pair of latex gloves with red dye smeared all over them, not noticing a figure climbing down from the ceiling nearby. Nick looks up when he hears the figure get to the floor, and then outside Warrick sees Nick come barreling out of the building's window. Deciding not to pursue the suspect, Warrick rushes to Nick's aid. Nick is left with a sprained wrist and fractured ribs from the fall, as well as some cuts and bruises. The doctor says that Nick is fine to go home and rest, and is lucky that the damage was not worse. Warrick berates himself for not apprehending the suspect, but Grissom says that he did the right thing in tending to Nick. The team wonders why the stalker didn't try to actually kill Nick, and Grissom suggests they check out Nigel Crane's home themselves. Grissom then discusses Nigel Crane with Catherine, the man not having any prior criminal activities and living alone in his house with little social contact. Catherine notices Nigel does not have much furniture or other typical features of a home, but Grissom checks his attic and finds that Nigel primarily lives up there, confirming him as the stalker. They find all of his important items up in the attic, along with a collection of videotapes. Watching the tapes reveals Nigel, talking about his views on others, seeing them as beneath himself and other such beliefs. Meanwhile, Nick is released from the hospital and taken home. On the videotapes, Nigel begins talking of a person who understands him, and Catherine notices a copy of the Crime Stopper in the background behind him, with Nick's picture circled. This leads the team to suspect that Nigel is the one who read Nick's email, and when Sara asks if Nick has satellite cable, Warrick brings up Nick's mention of it earlier. This all leads the team to check the last tape in Nigel's collection, which has Nigel talking more heavily of the person, calling him a "friend" and then referring to Nick, confirming that he is indeed the person Nigel is now fixated on. Nick is at home, taking his medication for his injuries, but receives a knock at the door. It is Morris Pearson, who begs to be let in, saying he has had more visions. Pearson reveals that he saw Nick's house and street number in one vision, explaining his arrival. Nick is suspicious and confused, asking Pearson to leave, but Pearson fearfully demands that Nick listen to him. Pearson then says that he saw "falling and crashing", and "somebody seeing through the back of his head", and asks if "green tea" means anything to Nick, which Nick does not understand. Pearson wanders as he talks, going around the house while Nick is called by Grissom, who warns him about Nigel and says that the cops are on their way to Nick's house. Nick mentions that Pearson is in his house, and Grissom asks that Nick keep him there. Nick then goes looking for Pearson, who has apparently vanished. Not finding him, Nick then hears heavy sounds from his ceiling, following them back into his living room. The ceiling then busts open and Pearson's body falls out, crashing to the floor. A moment later, Nigel Crane jumps down, having killed Pearson when he found him. He and Nick then converse, Nigel revealing intimate knowledge of Nick's life and habits, and confirming that he is wearing the clothes that Nick thought he had lost at the dry cleaner's. Nigel then explains that he encountered Nick when he installed his cable, and that he feels connected to Nick because they both observe others. Nick then asks about Jane Galloway, and Nigel talks about her, revealing that his posing of Jane was a "gift" to Nick. Nigel then starts getting aggresive towards Nick, explaining that he had been "meeting" (actually following) Nick and that Nick had been "blowing him off". Trying to defuse Nigel's anger, Nick tries to talk him into helping with the procedure for a dead body, but Nigel refuses, pointing a gun at Nick and threatening to blow his brains out with his gun. When Nick asks Nigel how exactly he wants this situation to end, Nigel responds "I want you to be able to remember my name..." then turns the gun on himself, intending to commit suicide. Nick wrestles him for the gun, just as the cops bust in. They grab Crane and arrest him. Nigel is put in an interrogation room, repeating "I am one and who am I..." endlessly. Nick, who is watching from outside, asks why it was him Nigel had targeted, and Grissom answers that it seemed that neither Nick, or Jane Galloway, had been what Nigel was concerned about in particular. Nigel had apparently been obsessed with something called "Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs", a psychological theory about a person and their desire to belong. In Nigel's interpretation of it he needed someone he could control, i.e. Jane Galloway, and someone to become, which he had found in Nick. In Nigel's realization of his version of the theory, Nick would have to die for Nigel to properly "be" him or else Nigel himself would have to die. Sara then tries to comfort Nick that Nigel is going to prison for life, saying that "it's over". Nick responds that it isn't over for him, but it is for Jane Galloway. The team then return to the lab, while Nick watches Nigel be taken away, still repeating the same words. Cast Main Cast *William Petersen as Gil Grissom *Marg Helgenberger as Catherine Willows *Gary Dourdan as Warrick Brown *George Eads as Nick Stokes *Jorja Fox as Sara Sidle *Paul Guilfoyle as Jim Brass Guest Cast *Eric Szmanda as Greg Sanders *Robert David Hall as Dr. Al Robbins *Archie Kao as Archie Johnson *Doug Hutchison as Nigel Crane *Bryan Kirkwood as Adam Piorio *Shelley Robertson as Doctor *Leland Orser as Morris Pearson *Brianna Brown as Jane Galloway See Also 219 Category:Episodes